Pension Scheme in Korea for Foreign Workers

So, if you teach in Korea, your company will take money from your pay, as at home, and deposit it and a matching amount into your Korean pension fund. Depending on your country of nationality, at the end of your contract, you have different options. Some countries automatically roll that amount from Korea into your pension fund at home; others force you to forfeit that money. Americans can get it refunded to us in cash; not just the portion that we paid, but the whole thing! Woohoo!

(* Due to new rules, I do not know how to handle this if you are re-signing with the same company.*)

In order to make that happen, you must go to the pension office before you leave Korea to apply for it. (You can do it from home if you forget to do it here, but it's a lot more hassle.)

You will need:
* passport
* Korean ID card
* airplane ticket home
* bank book for deposit information

In Daegu, the main office is just outside the Beomeo subway station, at exit 4.  It's in the LIG building, so you can either use exit 4, or go up the LIG escalator. Go to the glass elevators, and up to 11F. Turn right from the elevator, and it's the first office on the right, "NPS" or National Pension Service.

A woman helped me, and we had no problems with communication. I just had to fill out some forms and show her my documents, and she told me how much and when to expect my refund.  The whole process took about 10 minutes. I chose to have my refund deposited into my KEB Easy-One account. This account automatically transfers any amount that I put into it to my account in the States. There is no fee for this account, so I will leave it open when I leave Korea. At the end of June, I will receive more-or-less one month's salary. Yippee!